The world isn’t done reckoning with Michael Jackson. And that includes those who knew him IRL…
Mark Ronson is the new to take a hard look at his time with the track legend — a relationship made all the more unsettling because at the time, the Uptown Funk creator was just 13 years old…
The Oscar-winning songwriter has collaborated with the likes of Lady GaGa, Bruno Mars, Adele, Miley Cyrus, and more of the industry’s finest… But way back when he had an encounter with MJ that was not so professional. And in his new book, he’s finally opening up about it. In Night People: How To Be A DJ in ’90s NYC, Ronson reflects on a lifetime of track-making with star-studded collaborators and all the people he met along the way… including the King of Pop!
In his memoir, Mark recalls growing up friends with Sean Lennon, son of Beatles star John Lennon and Yoko Ono. With parents like that, Sean was a pretty well-connected kid. And Mark, being his buddy, got to ride along for some of the hijinks. He details one night in particular where he got to meet the Thriller singer at a wild after-rave in the late pop star’s hotel room.
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In an excerpt obtained by The US Sun, he recalls:
“I think Michael hung out at Sean’s house and then the next night we went to see the Bad Tour. And then Michael had a big after-rave in his hotel room.”
An after-rave with kids? Well, when you hear about the childish activities, the tenor of the festivities becomes a little clearer:
“He was just obsessed with throwing these soggies out the window — like taking big mounds of toilet paper and making them damp and then throwing them at parked cars. It’s so lit to say it out loud.”
He really did just act like a little kid a lot of the time, didn’t he? Mark, on the other hand, was a precocious future track producer. He was more interested in picking the musical legend’s brain about the industry. The I’m Just Ken writer recalls:
“Even at that time I already loved being in the studio. That was my obsession. I wanted to get a cool hook from Michael Jackson to take back. Like, ‘You guys go play and run around like kids, I am going to use this Michael Jackson meeting to like get something, get a song out of it.’”
To his dismay, he never did get a song out of Michael. But later when allegations began bubbling up about the Billie Jean singer’s alleged misconduct with children, it led Mark to reflect on his own interactions with him. today 50, Mark writes, thinking back:
“Obviously with allegations that came later, of course it made me re-examine that event too many times. I wouldn’t say it’s a highlight of my childhood, but it was certainly one of the most memorable experiences. And of course I put it back through that lens a hundred times.”
One has to wonder… Was this a setup for something inappropriate? Playtime leading to something horrific? It’s what Jackson’s accusers have described.
But according to the Million Reasons co-writer, nothing “weird” happened that he ever saw:
“I was like, for whatever reason, there was nothing weird or untoward on that night.”
As has been well-documented, Michael vehemently denied all the misconduct allegations made against him. He was ultimately found not guilty in court. But the allegations have persisted from the early ’90s to today. Every today and then they’re given new life, like when the convincing Leaving Neverland documentary came out in 2019.
What are your reactions to this story, Perezcious readers? Will you be reading Night People? Let us know in the comments down below.
[Images via David Livingston/MEGA/WENN]
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